My Superpower is Slacking Off

It’s summer where I am, and the days are hot and heavy. Condensation beads the sides of my glass of ice tea. The dog rests motionless in front of the fan and the lines of my WIP, which should be marching across the computer screen like ants across hot pavement, are still.

It’s summer. The season of unlimited time and no time at all.

I forget this every year. September to June I’m mired by the school calendar, my days shaped by carpools and sporting events, by ballet classes and dance recitals, physicals and eye exams and parent teacher conferences and threaded beneath it all my own writing assignments. The days pass in a blur of one hour increments stitched together on my phone’s calendar, goals scribbled in my bullet journal at the beginning of year and the month adding meaning and shape. I block time for my novel the same way I schedule vet appointments, dutifully and at regular intervals.

But in summer, time unspools like a ribbon. The car sits in the driveway.The computer stays in its case. I tell myself there will be plenty of time for writing after the beach, after ice cream, after one last late night of playing cards with old friends and swimming in my parents’ pool and walking out at midnight to see the stars. Tomorrow I’ll rise early and get those last 100 pages done. I have plenty of time.

And then it’s four days before August, three weeks before the start of school madness again and I’ve accomplished absolutely no writing. I feel guilty and lazy and worthless. But I’m still staying up late watching movies and playing cards, I’m still going to the beach and pool instead of sitting in front of my computer, I’m still sleeping in and going on ice cream runs.

Herman, our unofficial beach mascot, lolling around.

So if you are like me, how to get back on the writing wagon? More importantly, how to WANT to get back on that wagon again?

Here are a few tricks I’ve found that help:

Revisit my motivation. For me, that means pulling out my bullet journal and looking at what I wrote in January when the year was shiny and new. I think about how I felt then, all hopeful and eager, and how I will feel in December if I haven’t accomplished those goals.

Reassess my goals. (Jan O’Hara’s post on this process was excellent.) Perhaps I can’t keep the exact same momentum that I did during the school year, but I can adjust my weekly writing goals so that I am still accomplishing something, and then make up the difference later in the year.

Find structure. My kids have summer homework, so I’m trying to write when they work on it, even if it is just for 20 minutes a day. In theory it sets a good example for them, and in practice I’m pulling motivation from them as well. (If you don’t have teenagers, a writing group or accountability group can offer the same benefits minus the parental angst.)

Find your inner superhero. Recently a bunch of writing friends were lamenting our lack of progress this summer. Some of us have children, some of us have older relatives who need care, a few are recovering from illnesses, and some are just taking time off. One wise writer told us that her superpower is being easy on herself, and she wished she could gift that power to all of us. Life events and detours and distractions happen, and we shouldn’t feel bad about attending to them even if it is at the expense of our writing.

I may not be quite there yet, but self-forgiveness is an important power to have. And if I’m not writing, I need to try and fully embrace whatever I’ve chosen to do instead. Otherwise, I’m not serving either activity — or myself — well.

Now if you’ll excuse me, the waves are calling.

Do you have tricks for getting back on track when faced with writing distractions? And what’s your writing superpower?

Liz Michalski's first novel, Evenfall, was published by Berkley Books (Penguin). Liz has been a reporter, an editor, and a freelance writer. In her previous life, she wrangled with ill-tempered horses and oversized show dogs. These days she's downsized to one husband, two children and a medium-sized mutt.

Comments

I call it the When-Then Thing. This invader creeps into the crevice of my thoughts and tells me that when I get this or that done, then I will write. This enemy takes me over like a virus a cruise ship. I set out to embark on a writing adventure only to find myself stuck in the cabin of my mind with When-Thens growing. The cure? Remembering that it’s all about community and that others might be encouraged by what we have to say.
I am glad you set your superpower aside and encouraged us today!

There was a really interesting article this week — I think it was the New York TImes — that talked about how women suffer from this more than men, Heidi — that in general there are more demands on their time. (For me, it’s not demands during the summer — it’s mostly fun stuff.) I’m glad I’m not alone!

I’m starting to wonder if my superpower is my dislike of summer. Maybe dislike is too strong a word. Might be more like: “Summer=Meh.” It’s often too hot (and as I always say, you can almost always adjust for cold weather with clothing/gear–extreme heat, not so much); it’s sweaty; it’s overrun with sweaty tourists; it’s dirty (or maybe I should say “dirtier”–when did littering become acceptable again? Geez!); it’s noisier (landscape dudes–what’s with the leaf blowers before the leaves have fallen? And why do we need to run them at 8am?)… Oh, and did I mention the sweatiness?

Anyway, I go to the beach daily, but I refuse to go without Gidget. And (for some crazy reason) in the summer she’s not allowed on the beach after 10am. So finding writing time in summer is not so tough for me. I know: probably sounds more like something to pity rather than envy about me. But I’ll take any writing advantage I can get.

Great seeing you! Wishing you a non-sweaty and enjoyable August. Can’t wait to see you IRL this November. First round’s on me!

I loved that image and I’m so glad you do too! And I hear you on the summer yucks — we have no air conditioning so it has been a HOT and sweaty last week. (And the Slobbering Beast is not allowed on the beach at all until the fall, and he’s had it with the ankle-biters who keep barking at him, so he’s not a fan of summer either.)

Still, I’ll take the heat over the fall schedule any day. But I’m glad you are finding time to write Vaughn, and although I’ll be sad to see my lazy days end, I can’t wait to see you and the rest of the crew! (And second round is on me!)

Same here! Every year I bring all my writing stuff back to the family home in the countryside (along with the husband and the kids), and every year I spend my days gardening, swimming in the lake, going hiking … NOT WRITING. I used to be fed up with this, but I start seeing it as inevitable, maybe even necessary? Maybe I need to live a different life so that I can get back to city life with fresh hunger?
So this year I have not set myself any real writing goals. I did bring my WIP of course, but only two craft books, one of them already read and full of sticky notes. I thought maybe to re-visit it and see if I found answers to the questions in there.
At the moment I am at the end of day 2 of the holidays only, and I have read two pages in one craft book and about three in a not-writing-related-book I brought too. (But I have trimmed quite some bushes already and tackled some nasty weeds! And the lake is lovely…)
So I try to go with the flow, enjoy the days – and if a little bit of creativity comes along, I might grab it, if my hands are free of gardening tools at that moment.
Happy summer to everyone!

Faith, that sounds lovely too. I have a smaller garden than I used to, but I can still pass several happy hours watering, pruning, weeding and just admiring the blooms. Enjoy your happy space this summer!

This is the story of my life! However, during the school year I am a teacher, and there is even less time to write. I try to take advantage of these summer months, but it’s often a losing battle – time to recoup and be with friends and family often trumps writing, but that is life. You are absolutely correct about the importance of self-forgiveness. Thank you for the tricks, and best of luck to you during these final weeks of sun and fun. Enjoy those waves!

I used to beat myself up at my lack of summer motivation but either I’ve become a slacker or a wise crone. Or a wise, slacking crone. ;-) Better to be where you are, whatever that looks like, IMHO.

Nowadays, when the well is refilled, I find myself itching to get back to the writing. That’s pretty much inevitable with the shorter days and the cold, which is possibly why fall is my favorite season of all. It’s beautiful and I associate it with guilt-free productivity.

If I may add a frustration, I am an early bird who writes in the wee hours of morning before the world comes to life. Nice in the fall and spring, a virtual wizard of a time in the winter. Damn near nonexistent in the summer.
First light is at five, tourists are banging around in search of coffee, or on a jog. The garbage truck is at it and the delivery trucks like their back up beeps.
And the dogs, their body clocks are amazing, 4:41 am every morning.
Needless to say. perhaps us writers should be given a summer bye.

Oh my gosh, yes! I am NOT a morning person, although I’ve become one through necessity, but there’s no way I could string a sentence together at that hour! Wishing you some noise-cancelling headphones and a few rainy days for the quiet!

“One wise writer told us that her superpower is being easy on herself, and she wished she could gift that power to all of us. Life events and detours and distractions happen, and we shouldn’t feel bad about attending to them even if it is at the expense of our writing.”

Yes yes yes. I have definitely been cultivating this superpower over the past several years. And to my surprise, it hasn’t had any negative impact on my writing or productivity whatsoever. It just makes me happier to be doing what I’m doing, whether that’s living or writing (or whatever overlap those two may find).

Great post, and such a welcome reminder for me, especially as I’m about to have my second kid and can’t help worrying about all the changes that will bring.

Kristan, you quoted the same section I just copied! I too have been helped by “being present,” which could be a shorthand for “fully embrace whatever I’ve chosen to do instead.” That means enjoying summer’s distractions (wine, swims, friends) and letting go of those unrealistic writing goals. Every season brings its own excuses to not-write, so we each have to find our own way around them. For me, the waves of summer revive me, even as the heat makes me hungry for cooler weather and shorter days. The secret to happiness (which is, for me, the secret to writing well) is to enjoy the now and not spend my time either regretting the past or anticipating the future.

Kristan, I’m trying to get to that place where I’m happy in the moment, but it definitely doesn’t come easily to me. I’m glad you are managing it, and congrats on expecting your second child! Wishing you all the best.